A Father's Love
by HubridBunny
Summary: Don't pretend to be something- or someone- that you're not.
1. Chapter 1

**- Chapter 1 -**

**- Kabuto -**

Dear Diary,

Today was another great day! I made pancakes for breakfast, but they could have been better... Orochimaru didn't say anything about it, though, so I guess it was fine.

The doorbell rang then. I dropped my pencil and adjusted my glasses. It was unusual, but it was probably someone for Orochimaru. Though, I _was_ expecting a package...

The doorbell rang again. I sighed at the visitor's impatience and got up to open the door.

I tried looking through the peek hole, but I couldn't see who it was. Maybe it _was_ my package after all?...

I opened the door and almost gaped. At first I couldn't believe what- or who, rather- I saw, but I didn't bother to rub my eyes when he spoke.

"Is Orochimaru here?" it was Sasuke, the curse seal stretched down his body like a tattoo.

'No way... he survived _that_?' I thought for a moment. Orochimaru had placed that curse seal on his neck almost a year and a half ago as a parting gift. A normal person marked with it would have been torn in half by now.

I was feeling a bit stunned, but then I remembered that this was Sasuke Uchiha. The sole survivor of the Uchiha clan (other than Itachi)… He was still just a kid, but his strength was almost scary.

… Of course, he had to be strong for Orochimaru to take an interest in him.

I felt a strange feeling grip at my heart and I had the sudden thought to tell Sasuke that he wasn't home, or that he was busy, or something when none other than the snake Sannin himself came running down the hall yelling "Sasuke!"

I internally swore.

Orochimaru stopped just inside the house and beckoned at Sasuke to come in. As the little Uchiha was stepping through the door I saw Orochimaru shoot me a look that seemed to be saying, "why didn't you let him in? You could have done something instead of just standing there stupidly!"

Suddenly I felt embarrassed, so I quickly moved out of the way as Orochimaru grabbed Sasuke's hand and dragged him through the house.

It made me sick, seeing him guide Sasuke like that... It made my heart ache with this feeling I couldn't put a name to.

Not wanting to be a bother to Orochimaru, I went into the kitchen to clean the dishes from breakfast that I had neglected earlier.

In the kitchen, there was a small window looking out on the backyard, long white laminate countertops, as well as miscellaneous kitchen appliances.

Underneath the window was a striking platinum sink. I walked over to it, grabbed a sponge, picked up a plate, and began washing.

Every few minutes my eyes would drift upwards and watch Orochimaru showing Sasuke our home with much enthusiasm. Sasuke didn't look like he cared.

I gritted my teeth together and looked back down at the plate I was cleaning. I was scrubbing it hard enough to break it. Why wasn't this stupid syrup coming off-

I took a deep breath. I didn't know why this was bothering me so much. After all, Sasuke was just another tool Orochimaru was using to get revenge on Konoha village, right? _Right_?

I scolded myself; I was being silly. Of course Orochimaru didn't _really_ care about what happened to Sasuke, he just had to gain his trust first.

But… What about me? Was I just another tool? What if…

I wouldn't allow myself to finish that thought. I shook my head and tried to focus on my work. But, for some reason, keeping my eyes on the coffee mug I was now cleaning seemed impossible. I looked out the window and saw that they were in the backyard, practicing Chidori. I guessed Orochimaru was probably showing Sasuke how to make it more powerful or something.

After that, they practiced hitting targets with shuriken. Sasuke never missed.

I looked away and worked on finishing my task, but the thoughts wouldn't leave me alone. Something about Orochimaru with Sasuke infuriated me to no end.

Why did it bother me so much? It wasn't like I was jealous or anything.

I scoffed. Me? _Jealous_? How ridiculous.

I cleaned a few more plates, and then allowed myself to look out the window again, just to see how Orochimaru was doing (I really couldn't care less about Sasuke).

I decided to only throw a glance out the window, and I peeked, wishing I hadn't as soon as I saw what was going on- Sasuke was dashing across the yard at top speed towards Orochimaru, the Chidori in his palm tearing up the lawn as he went.

My heart caught in my throat. It was like a train wreck: horrifying, but I couldn't look away.

I was on edge. My whole body was tense. Then, only seconds before the jutsu would have hit, Orochimaru jumped out of the way, revealing a target stapled to a tree. Sasuke hit the target head-on, and his jutsu dissipated to reveal the painted plank of wood, now splintered into a million pieces.

I exhaled in relief; Orochimaru was fine. But of course he was; I didn't think for a second that he might not be!

I went back to my work, and began to silently simmer as my thoughts ran their course.

"Well done!" I could imagine Orochimaru saying. He _never_ complimented me, but he was always praising Sasuke.

I shut off the water and called "Dishes are done" to no one. I was alone in the house.

I glared out the window at Orochimaru and Sasuke, shooting eye lasers at the little Uchiha brat. They were still practicing Chidori, but it looked like there was some problem; no chakra was forming in Sasuke's hand.

The curse seal was slowly receding, rolling back up his arm to his shoulder. It seemed like he was straining rather hard… was he trying to _force_ the jutsu out?

Suddenly he stumbled backward and his head smacked against the ground. He had passed out.

I darted out of the kitchen; if Sasuke died today, I'd be hearing about it at dinner. For the next _year_.

I dashed for the back door and then hesitated. Orochimaru was gingerly picking Sasuke up off the ground and walking towards me.

I held the door open as he passed me, with Sasuke limp in his arms, then watched as he carefully laid the little Uchiha down on the couch. He sat on one of the sofa arms.

"What happened?" I ventured.

"He pushed himself too far and got knocked out after just one Chidori." Orochimaru answered shortly, reaching out a hand to push the hair out of Sasuke's face.

I blinked and sat down on the other couch, staring at Sasuke; he was out like a light.

He collapsed after pushing himself to use a jutsu like that when he didn't have the energy, then hit his head afterwards. He didn't appear to have sustained any physical damage, but I could feel a growing sense of dread settling in my stomach.

This wouldn't turn out well.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry for not updating in such a long time. I would blame it on exams and graduation and birthdays and whatever else, but then i would just be making excuses. I just haven't been writing much lately. Anyway, here's the next chapter of _A Father's Love_! C:**

**- Chapter 2 -**

**- Kabuto -**

Sasuke's eyes blinked slowly open; he was finally awake.

"Where am I?" he yawned.

He was disoriented, of course. I took off my glasses to wipe them on my shirt and answered calmly, "home."

"Home..." He repeated distantly. He sounded slightly confused, but it wasn't unexpected. "I can't remember… You're…"

"… My dad?"

I almost dropped my glasses. He was clueless!

"Excuse us for just one moment." Orochimaru told Sasuke tenderly, the tone of his voice the only thing letting me know that he was just as bewhildered as I was. He grabbed my arm and towed me towards the kitchen.

"What's going on, Kabuto?" He hissed at me.

"I don't know," I replied, "It seems like he lost his memory when he went unconscious. Temporary amnesia, at worst."

'I hope…' I silently added.

Orochimaru paused for a moment, thinking. Then a grin tugged at the edges of his mouth and spread across his face. He turned and walked back into the living room, whispering "follow my lead!" at me over his shoulder. We rejoined Sasuke on the couch.

"Sorry about that." Orochimaru apologized, sitting beside the little Uchiha and running his hands through the short black hair. Something about the way he said it made my stomach churn.

I took my seat back on the other couch and Sasuke looked at me expectantly. Then I remembered his question, but only one second too late; the one second it took Orochimaru to wrap his arms around Sasuke and kiss his forehead. "Silly boy, Kabuto isn't your father." he paused, "I am."

My jaw dropped, but Orochimaru didn't notice and he continued, "Kabuto is your older brother."

He pulled Sasuke onto his lap as if he were a child and played with his hair. While the rest of me was completely thrown off-kilter, one small part of me thought that they really didn't look so different; Orochimaru could very well have been Sasuke's father.

"So..." Sasuke looked between Orochimaru and me. "Kabuto, and..." he trailed off.

"Dad's fine." Orochimaru replied, smiling sweetly.

I grumbled to myself. Of all the stupid things- now Orochimaru would be enamored with this new, impressionable Sasuke and it would be even more insufferable than his usual attitude towards the Uchiha. At the very least it would have been bearable if Sasuke hadn't lost his memory!

Then something hit me. I shot up from the couch and ran to my bedroom, shouting "I'll be in my room if you need me!" on my way down the hall.

0000000000

I closed the door and locked it behind me, not wanting any intrusions, then darted over to my bookshelf, skimming through the titles. I had accumulated quite the collection in the years I had been with Orochimaru. I pulled two books- two of the best medical compendiums I owned- from the shelf.

Sliding the chair away from my desk and dropping the two huge texts on the tabletop, I opened the first one to the table of contents and began searching for a cure for amnesia.

I had already gotten through the first book and was halfway through the second, thinking about how ridiculous it was that there wasn't a single cure for amnesia listed in either book that wasn't "smack him in the head again" (though I did rather enjoy the thought of smacking Sasuke), when someone knocked on my bedroom door. I shut the medicine book quickly and hid both it and the other one under a mountain of papers that was dominating the entire left side of my desk. I slid a cookbook that was lying nearby over to the center of the desk, opened it up to a random page, and responded by the third knock.

"Come in!" I called.

It was Sasuke. I mentally groaned.

"Hey Kabuto." He shuffled over to my desk. "What'cha doin'?" He peeked over my shoulder at the cookbook as I turned the pages.

"Looking for something to cook for dinner." I answered curtly. I didn't want to test my patience with Sasuke when I had such a short fuse to burn.

"Dinner? But wouldn't Dad be the one-"

I interrupted him briskly after 'dad'.

"No, I do all the cooking. It isn't one of Oro- uh, Dad's many talents."

We sat in silence for a few minutes after that; the only sound was from the book as I slowly looked through it (even though I wasn't actually looking through it at all. I've practically memorized all the recipes in it).

"Ooh! That one looks good!" Sasuke put his finger on the page, pointing at a dessert.

"That one?" I asked him resentfully. I really was trying to tolerate him- and by 'tolerate' I mean 'not toss him to the floor and throttle him'-, but I'm sure my voice was still dripping with malice, despite my best efforts.

"Sure, It looks really tasty!" he smiled.

"Well, of course, it's chocolate."

_Idiot!_

"Chocolate?"

_You're an idiot!_

"Yes, chocolate." I ground out.

He was still confused, I could tell. I exhaled deeply.

"Here, follow me. There's some in the kitchen." I led him down the hall to the kitchen, then flicked on the light and opened a small cabinet above the fridge. Inside were some of the foods I wasn't supposed to use when cooking. This included marshmallows, seven types of sugarcoated candy, cinnamon, several different spices, and chocolate.

I got one chocolate bar out, unwrapped it, and handed a small piece to Sasuke. He popped the bit of chocolate into his mouth and chewed on it curiously. After a few moments he was grinning like the idiot he was. Of course I know how satisfying chocolate can be, but had he seriously never eaten it before?

Oh, right. Amnesia.

Sasuke reached out to get the rest of it and I held it up, out of his reach.

"C'mon!" he cried indignantly, jumping for it.

"No! I said you could try it, not eat the whole thing!"

"But why not? We're having it for dinner anyway!"

"Because you'll never go to sleep and- hey I never said that!"

I reached up to drop the chocolate bar back into the cabinet but before I could, it was pulled out of my hand.

"Kabuto," I flinched. 'Of course.'

I looked at Orochimaru (even though I really didn't want to); he was holding the chocolate bar and waving it back and forth, and fixing me with a stern glare. "You know you're not allowed to use these." he scolded, pointing to the open cabinet.

"What- but I-" I stuttered, trying to explain myself. Orochimaru just raised an eyebrow, and I sighed. "Yeah. I know," my shoulders sagged. The whole thing was Sasuke's fault, but of course Orochimaru would never listen if I tried to tell him that his favorite little Uchiha brat had been the cause of the problem.

0000000000

I lied in my bed. I wouldn't say that I was pouting, but that's probably the most accurate description of what I was doing.

'Of all the childish things…' I scowled. I had been sent to my room without dinner because I was blamed for something _Sasuke _did. Orochimaru was so blind!

_Favoritism_. I grit my teeth.

In reality, that little Uchiha was nothing but trouble, but Orochimaru would never see it that way; he would never see Sasuke as the little demon that he was.

For a brief moment the thought flickered in my mind that when he hit his head, he should have not only lost his memories, but actually _died_.

The thought shocked me at first; it seemed a little extreme. But, the more I thought on it, the less terrible it seemed.

I mean, sure, he was annoying and I didn't like him at all, but… did I really want Sasuke _dead_?

The thought haunted me all night.


End file.
